I find it as strange that some Christians claim that Potter is explicitly Christian as I find those Christians who find it explicitly Satanic. At least for the first six books, Rowling has been astonishingly a-religious. Zero mentions of God, Satan, angels, prayer, the Bible, heaven, or hell. Christmas is presented denuded of any religious explanation or ritual. Even Dumbeldore's funeral included no hint of explicit religion, much less Christianity.

But it's written broadly enough that I wouldn't argue with someone who finds Christian meaning in there. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Zoroastrian meaning, either. Whatever someone finds between the lines of a text is there for that reader. And Rowling leaves a lot of room between some of her lines.

The best argument I can find in the extensive online chat as evidence of explicit religion in HP is a sideways one

3 comments:

I rather think Harry is an atheist, and that the Harry Potter books occur in a godless world. Rowling seems to understand that if she infused her world with spirtuality, she'd have to mix her magical metaphors, and any character who could pray would trump any magical spell.

Messy business in a fantasy novel... too easy for Deus ex machina. She also doesn't have harry build a robot army to fight Voldemort's space station death star.

Mixing your metaphors makes for a muddled book.

Much better to pick a form of power, be it magic, spirituality, God(s), technology, whatever... and stick with it.